Best PlacesGeneseo, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Geneseo, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Geneseo ranks 15,168th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Geneseo
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Geneseo's strengths and weaknesses
Where Geneseo ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 93% of towns
- Short commute20.1 minutes each way, better than 87% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 87% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 85% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 85% of towns
Where Geneseo ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 12% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Geneseo
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Geneseo home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,489, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Geneseo's effective rate of 1.87%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Geneseo
Geneseo runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Geneseo.
Who works in Geneseo, and how
Work in Geneseo centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Geneseo
Geneseo has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of towns and more parkland per resident than 97% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Geneseo and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Geneseo, month by month
Geneseo sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 25° | 16° |
| April | 66° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 69° | 55° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Geneseo
The nearest airport, Quad Cities International, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 122 miles away.
The best schools in and around Geneseo
Schools across Geneseo average a D+, better than 18% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- C R Hanna Elem SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Erie Elem SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Riverdale Elem SchoolC− · 26% proficient
Top middle schools
- Orion Middle SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Erie Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Riverdale Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Geneseo High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Orion High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Erie High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Geneseo school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Geneseo measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Geneseo against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Geneseo
Is Geneseo a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Geneseo ranks 15,168th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, short commutes, and walkability, and lowest on taxes and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Geneseo expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $215,116. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $87,489 median income, cost of living beats 84% of towns.
Is Geneseo safe?
Yes, Geneseo is safer than 71% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $205 per resident a year.
Compare Geneseo with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Geneseo. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Geneseo represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Geneseo detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Geneseo: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Geneseo: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Geneseo: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Geneseo: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Geneseo detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.